Mary’s Maturity

[Soloist]

Should we go to bunny trails?

You can certainly request it, but there has been quite a few discussions through this thread that have nothing to do with Mary's maturity though so it would seem inconsistent at best. You didn't object to those things.

I “clarified” & emphasized the intent of the topic Saturday, hoping to not get sidetracked again from the original intent to compare how mature people used to be at young ages to now questioning whether they are old enough to get baptized or married in early adult ages (by adult I mean 18 according to law)

Well I suspect maturity isn't validly judged on age.

[Valerie]

You can certainly request it, but there has been quite a few discussions through this thread that have nothing to do with Mary's maturity though so it would seem inconsistent at best. You didn't object to those things.

I “clarified” & emphasized the intent of the topic Saturday, hoping to not get sidetracked again from the original intent to compare how mature people used to be at young ages to now questioning whether they are old enough to get baptized or married in early adult ages (by adult I mean 18 according to law)

Well I suspect maturity isn't validly judged on age.

Agreed.

[JohnH]

When life is hard and life is short children grow up fast. In Mary’s day I think the average life span was something like 40-45 years? Based on that Mary was almost middle aged by the time she was 15.

The Psalmist said in Psalm 90:10:

The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Sure, people could die much younger but Scripture says the life expectancy- Apostle John lived to be around 95 years. So Mary being “middle age” at 15 isn’t really accurate Scripturally speaking.

There’s a variance of opinions on how old Mary lived:

“The Bible doesn't state Mary's age at death, but Christian tradition suggests she died around age 60 to 72, with Eastern Orthodox tradition pointing to 59 or 60 (the Dormition) and some Catholic sources suggesting 72 or 73 (the Assumption). These figures come from early writings and visions, placing her death decades after Jesus's crucifixion, with some traditions mentioning her living in Jerusalem or Ephesus with St. John. “

Indeed. When people say that the reason people married younger back the is because their life expectancy was 35 years or something… it seems like a ludicrous claim. People obviously typically lived until their 70s back then, much like now.

[ohio jones]

Indeed. When people say that the reason people married younger back the is because their life expectancy was 35 years or something… it seems like a ludicrous claim. People obviously typically lived until their 70s back then, much like now.

Much like now, there's a difference between the average and the range. In the US, the 2024 life expectancy was 78.6, but the oldest living person is 114. That does not mean that people obviously typically live to be over 100.

[JohnL]

When life is hard and life is short children grow up fast. In Mary’s day I think the average life span was something like 40-45 years? Based on that Mary was almost middle aged by the time she was 15.

The Psalmist said in Psalm 90:10:

The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; For it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

Sure, people could die much younger but Scripture says the life expectancy- Apostle John lived to be around 95 years. So Mary being “middle age” at 15 isn’t really accurate Scripturally speaking.

There’s a variance of opinions on how old Mary lived:

“The Bible doesn't state Mary's age at death, but Christian tradition suggests she died around age 60 to 72, with Eastern Orthodox tradition pointing to 59 or 60 (the Dormition) and some Catholic sources suggesting 72 or 73 (the Assumption). These figures come from early writings and visions, placing her death decades after Jesus's crucifixion, with some traditions mentioning her living in Jerusalem or Ephesus with St. John. “

Well now Genesis 5 says Methuselah lived 969 years. If the Bible doesn't specifically say it then I think any of those "tradition" based ages are up for grabs. Remember I said the average life span.

[JohnH]

Indeed. When people say that the reason people married younger back the is because their life expectancy was 35 years or something… it seems like a ludicrous claim. People obviously typically lived until their 70s back then, much like now.

Much like now, there's a difference between the average and the range. In the US, the 2024 life expectancy was 78.6, but the oldest living person is 114. That does not mean that people obviously typically live to be over 100.

Right. There is a presumption infant mortality was high then. But infant mortality is almost entirely irrelevant to how long a typical person who makes it past age 1 lives, and it's also irrelevant to how old people should be to get married.